Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple in Disney's Hollywood Studios

The Force is strong with this wildly-popular Star Wars attraction, located in Disney's Hollywood Studios. Now, your little Jedi-in-training can use the Force to defend the galaxy against the Seventh Sister from Star Wars Rebels and the dark lord himself, Darth Vader. Before the recruits can wield a lightsaber, however, the Jedi will train them on how to use the Force correctly, and get them ready for battle. Or, as ready as they can be before the Temple opens to reveal who they must defeat.

[My middle son, Jonah, got in on the action, too!]

See how McKinley, and other younglings, defeated the Seventh Sister and Darth Vader in our most recent trip to Disney's Hollywood Studios. 

After you've been a part of the magic that is Jedi Training {or while you wait}, be sure to check out Star Tours, Star Wars Launch Bay, Star Wars: Path of the Jedi, Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away, and Tatooine Traders. At the end of your day, don't miss Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular - a fireworks show that is out of this world! 

Want to meet a few Star Wars characters in person? Check your guide map for their locations. You could meet Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, and others.

Be sure to check the Times Guide at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the schedule and showtimes. Since this is an outdoor show, it is subject to cancellation due to inclement weather. Showtimes are subject to change.

3 Souvenirs You MUST Get While at Walt Disney World Resort

Our family has been to the Walt Disney World Resort a time or two...or twenty, in our 14 years of togetherness. {We had seasonal passes for a few years and would take weekend or day trips.} Over those years, we haven't bought a whole lot of toys or gifts. We kind of pride ourselves on not bringing home souvenirs that will be tossed aside or left at the wayside. When we DO let the kids pick a souvenir we have them think about it and come back to it. If it's something they really want, they'll still be thinking about it hours later, after they've seen other things. 

We've come home with Glow with the Show Mickey Ears, a Rapunzel princess dress from Bibbiti Bobbiti Boutique, a stuffed animal snake and leopard for my animal lovers.

When I make my way back down to the MAGIC that is in Walt Disney World, I have a short list of souvenirs that I would love to bring home with me, for me. After all, adults love bringing home fun things, too!

I shared with you in my 2014 Holiday Gifts Wish List that I would love more Alex and Ani bracelets. It's been a few months and I would still love to have more of these fun bracelets! I was lucky enough to snag my one and only Alex and Ani while in Disneyland last year. This year, I'm hoping to add Walt Disney World, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot to my collection!

My husband has a coffee cup collection. He has collected mugs from just about every location he went to an Army training for, we have mugs from when we lived in Fort Campbell and I've made him a few mugs with the kids pictures on them. Recently, we started buying mugs from places we visit. Our most recent mug is from Portland, ME. {We LOVE Maine! Especially a select group of people there that we now call family!} His collection has become our collection and I like to add one or two here and there, too! I mean, we both drink coffee...I should be able to drink from a mug I like. :)

I've heard these You Are Here Starbucks mugs are hard to find, but that's not going to stop me from putting it on my list and looking. First stop when we walk into Magic Kingdom? Starbucks!

{photo credit - huffmans on flickr}

I dream of having a pair of Mickey Ears with my Instagram and Twitter handle, @jonahbonah, embroidered on them. Okay, maybe I don't really dream about them, but I've been talking about them for a couple of years now. The last time I was at the Parks, I was told they couldn't embroider the @ symbol. Hmmpph. That spoiled my plans. But, I asked a few of my Disney pals, and even a few folks employed with Disney, and turns out they CAN do the @ symbol...it just depends on who you ask. Second stop after walking into Magic Kingdom? Le Chapeau on Main Street, USA!

What is on your short list for Disney Souvenirs? Tell me in the comments or tweet me!

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. 

Day Two: Walt Disney World {Hollywood Studios}

{If you want to see Day One click here.}

When we planned this trip we totally anticipated going just the five of us. {Hubs, Jett, McKinley, Mabry and myself} We were well aware of the in and out of the stroller and stopping to change diapers and feed baby. We've done this before. Taking a baby to Disney is not new to us. We took Jett when he was only two weeks old. And again when he was about a year old. I even took McKinley and Jett by myself a few years ago. Disney is, after all, for kids of ALL ages! When our friends, Cathy and Bobby told us they would be in Orlando at the same time we were excited that they also offered to come and hang out with us in the parks! An extra set of hands AND good company. Score!


Something else we planned from the get-go was to not try to pack too much in to one day. We vowed to take our time and see the things that were most important to the kids. As many of those things as time allowed, that is. In one day we were able to ride Tower of Terror, The Great Movie Ride and Toy Story Midway Mania. We watched Muppet 3D Vision and the Disney Junior Show. For lunch we ate at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. We finished our day off at the evening Fantasmic Show. {The new Fast Pass+ really allowed for us to get so much packed in to one day. Without it we would've stood in line for Tower of Terror for more than 60 minutes. The wait time for Toy Story Midway Mania was 85-90 minutes each time we walked by it. With Fast Pass+ we were able to walk right on.}

This is probably my favorite memory from Hollywood Studios...Hubs and I may have told McKinley and Jett that the Tower of Terror was just an old, creepy hotel. It worked for getting them on the ride. About the time that it was about to make its first drop Hubs felt bad for not telling them what really happens. Too late! McKinley's legs flew up over her head and she screamed like crazy! Jett held on for dear life. {I'm laughing just recounting the whole thing in my head!!} The kids were TERRIFIED!!!! --Mission accomplished, Disney!-- As we were walking out I asked McKinley if she wanted to ride again. I thought for sure she'd yell "NO!". To my surprise, her eyes got big and she screamed, "YES!!!!". We didn't. But, we WILL be riding again when we go back!!!







We spent a good bit of time in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure. The kids absolutely LOVED being as small as ants while sliding down blades of grass and hanging out in a giant film canister {who uses film anymore? LOL}








The day we spent at Hollywood Studios was a pretty slow day as far as crowds are concerned. That was good news for us. I LOVE meeting the characters. The kids LOVE meeting the characters! While we didn't get to see Buzz and Woody or Mickey Mouse, we saw a bunch of other favorites!


{Sofia the First}


{Wreck It Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweets}


{Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates}


{remember how I said that the Memory Maker was worth the cost? Here's an additional peice of the proof. I am IN a picture with the kids. While Cathy, the kids and I stood in line for characters the guys got drinks and snacks for us before our next attraction.}


{Of course, you recognize Minnie Mouse!}
We had such a great day at Hollywood Studios. The best part? We didn't do everything so we have to go back. Rock'N Roller Coaster, The Backlot Tour, Lights Motors Action...there's so much that awaits us on our next visit!!




{Thank you, Cathy and Bobby for coming along with us! You guys are so amazing!!}
Come back and see what we did on Day Three!

Day One: Walt Disney World {the Magic Kingdom}

We haven't been to Disney as a family in years. YEARS. Even when we went last week it wasn't as an entire family, but I'll take it, it was more than half of us. Hubs, the three youngest of five and myself all went. The two oldest boys are "too cool" for Disney, so they say. I say, "one can NEVER be too old for Disney!" Soon enough they'll realize they missed out on the awesomeness that is Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and The Tower of Terror!

When I purchased my ticket to Type-A Parent Boot Camp in Walt Disney World a few months ago Hubs suggested that we extend our stay a day on each end to take the kids to the parks. When he makes a suggestion I've learned to jump on the opportunity at that very moment or lose it all together. So we planned. Three days in three different parks with three kids in tow. And it was MAGICAL!

The other day I told you about McKinley's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience. She still talks about becoming a princess for a day. {Truth be told, she's a princess every day!}

After we finished with the BBB, we headed to the Magic Kingdom for some family fun!


{I love the entrance to The Magic Kingdom. It's been the same for as long as I can remember.}


{After going back through pictures on my phone I found this of my princess in front of the castle. I was afraid I didn't have one of her alone.}




{McKinley and I tried on Minnie Mouse Ears in a gift shop. This was actually at Downtown Disney before BBB...but, it was on day one of our trip.}


{We stayed in the All-Stars Movie Resort in the Toy Story section. We had to go through "Andy's Room" to get to our hotel room. Jett may have been a little excited to see all of his favorite toys JUMBO SIZED!}


{RC was even at our resort. I tell you what, Disney holds nothing back when creating these amazing resorts!}

We stayed at the Magic Kingdom until nearly midnight. Saw the fireworks show twice. Rode every ride we wanted to ride, thanks to the new FastPass+ system Disney has just launched {more on that soon}. Saw a few characters from afar. It was a great first day to our mini family vacay!

Stay tuned for Day Two: Walt Disney World {Hollywood Studios}.

Becoming a Princess at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

For months, all McKinley has talked about is going to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Walt Disney World. Seriously. Ask her where she wanted to go and she'd proudly tell you that her daddy was going to take her to the "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo", as she calls it.

What's the big deal? Your daughter is treated as royalty from the moment she checks in. She's given a Royal Invitation and a Royal Pager {like the pager you get at a restaurant while you wait to be seated} while she awaits her turn to be called. Once called, her Fairy Godmother takes her to her dressing room where her ball gown and wand await her.



From there the royal treatment continues. Your princess will get her nails painted and her make-up applied.



McKinley was really starting to feel like a princess at this point. Her Fairy Godmother and the other Royal subjects all oohing and ahhing over her.

The PhotoPass Photographers walked around the boutique and would stop by and tell silly jokes to make the girls giggle.

Now, it's time for her up-do, complete with a sparkly tiara and enough Pixie Dust atop her noggin to choke old Codfish himself.






It's time for Princess McKinley to see herself for the first time since sitting down to the Royal Salon Chair.



She loves it! Just look at that smile!!!




Since we weren't able to get our Royal Reservation at Cinderella Castle itself, we went to Downtown Disney's location. Same great experience, just not in the Magic Kingdom. From there we hopped on a Disney Transportation bus and headed to Main Street, USA to finish the evening riding rides and meeting characters and watching fireworks!




Of course, we stopped in front of Cinderella Castle to have a family picture taken. I just wish I had thought to have McKinley's picture taken by herself in front of the castle. Oh well. Next time.



Want a few tips on a couple of things I learned from start to finish when treating your daughter to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique?

• Make your reservation EARLY! You can call 180 days in advance to book. And, if you know your travel dates, you should book that early. Especially if you want the Cinderella Castle location!
• If you want to save yourself $100+, bring a princess dress that is new to your daughter. She'll never know you didn't buy it at the Boutique.
• Make sure your princess is well rested and fed. Princess McKinley quickly turned into Princess Pouty Pants after her transformation. After a quick bite to eat she was twirling all over the park! Tired and hungry preschoolers aren't any more happy dressed as a princess while among a million people than any other day. Trust me.
• Be prepared to get lots of attention! Both Cast Members and Characters will bow to her Highness and speak to her as if she is the real princess she's dressed up as. {McKinley dressed as Rapunzel. As we entered the Magic Kingdom the Cast Member at the gate asked her where her frying pan was. He said that she told him that she NEVER left her tower without it. So fun!}

Have you taken your daughter to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique? I'd love to see your pictures and hear of your experience! Tell me about it and/or leave your link in the comments.

When you wish upon a star...

Hubs and I have been saying for months, no YEARS, that we want to take the kids to Disney World. We haven't been as a family since before we left for Ft. Campbell, KY back in 2009. Really though, I don't remember when we last went. Together. I've been a time or two without him while he was deployed or something. It isn't the same without the entire family though, right?

In January, I said I wanted to go ahead and pick out a blogging conference or two to attend in 2014. The first one that caught my eye was the Type-A Parent Boot Camp in Walt Disney World. It was coming fast, though. The dates are March 28-30. I needed to first get on the waiting list since it was sold out and see if I could snag a ticket. Well, I was on the waiting list for maybe two days. I received an email that I had 24 hours to reserve my ticket. Done. I was super excited to be heading to WDW in a couple of months.

Hubs and I decided we would make it a mini-vacay for half of the family. {The older boys have no desire to go to Disney World. They want to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure and ride the BIG roller coasters! So, that day will come for them soon enough.} We started to plan all of the fun things we would do with Jett, KcKinley and Mabry. {You'll have to wait until we get back to hear about it all!}

Imagine my surprise, though, after planning the mini-vacay to Walt Disney World, I received an invite to the one and only Disney Social Media Moms Celebration in DisneyLAND.

Here's how it happened...

I was on Twitter hanging out, doing what one does on Twitter, when I noticed someone tweet something along the lines of "I got my invite! I'm going to Disneyland for #DisneySMMoms!!!" My first thought was, "Yay!! They've started sending out the invites!!" Now, I was also thinking, "I've checked my email recently and I didn't get an invite. Oh well, maybe next year." And, I probably felt a little disappointed. BUT, then I thought, "hmmm...I didn't check my gmail account." Y'all, I had a mix of emotions from elated to shocked to stressed to you name it! I GOT INVITED!!!

Sitting right there, unopened in my inbox was the exclusive invite to Disney Social Media Moms. 

Disney Social Media Moms is an invite only event. I have no idea who gets invited and why...I just know that I have watched for the past couple of years all of the pictures and videos stream through my social media channels. The bloggers that attended were having an amazing time!! And, this year I get to be a part of the magic!!

So, April 10-13 we are headed to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA! Well, Hubs, Mabry and myself. {airfare prices are no joke for a family of seven!}

I can't wait to share all of the MAGICAL details with you! In the meantime, go follow me @jonahbonah on Twitter and Instagram so you get to journey along with us!!

See ya real soon!

Disney On The Road

Two weeks ago I received an email that absolutely caught me by surprise. Left me with no words. Made me the most happy girl EVAH!



I was invited to attend Disney On The Road in Bethesda, MD {the DC area}!!  I know nothing more than there will be motivational speakers from all over the country along with like-minded bloggers and mompreneurs, like me.  And, it's hosted by DISNEY!

Because my husband is amazing and supportive and AMAZING, I'm going!  I can hardly contain my excitement.  I can't wait to come back and share with you all what I learn and hear and see.  I'm anticipating nothing more than excellence from Disney.

Something that'll be icing on the cake to this quick trip??  My bestie, Tera lives in Maryland!  I haven't seen her in four years because she was living clear across the country in Washington.  Now she's closer and I'm headed to her town!! It was a no-brainer that I stop to see her for at least a day!

So, tomorrow I set off on my uber exciting adventure!  I can't wait to come back and share it with you!!!

downtown disney and sea world.

Disney with my babies....

i'm just gonna tell ya that this is a LOOOOONNNGG post.
if you love disney then it'll be worth the looksee.
grab a latte, sit back and relax...

when i set out on my great journey from kentucky to florida i knew that one of our ventures would be to disney world.
what i did not know is that about 1.5 million people would also have the same idea.
neither did i know that it would be about 100 degrees that day.
ok, so, take those two factors into consideration and you have one VERY crowded theme park FILLED with hot, sweaty, stinky, getting meaner by the second spring breakers...and their offspring.

the big question: did we let that get in our way of having fun???
no way, jose!
we had a blast!!






there was a lot of this...

must keep hydrated in this heat!!

i'm not sure why but, the balloon people are my favorite folks on Main St USA!!


this lady was a hoot!
she sang horribly and laughed at herself!


do ya wanna see what the parade route looked like??


and because i know you want to see some of the parade...
who wouldn't want to see mickey, minnie, woody, jesse, and belle??
i knew you'd want to see!
oh, and, i'll put both of the parade's pictures together...cause yes, we saw both of the day time parades!!!

i loved that one of the chipmunks came to see jett!

and i was even more thrilled that jett interacted with him!














jett watched like this pretty much the whole time!
he loved it!


mckinley slept through all of the second parade.


more of this...


the sun was SO bright...poor kiddos couldn't even look at me.


about 4 o'clock i decided it was time to go to our room and take a nap.
they had already had their naps....
mommy needed a nap!

i just love when those *mousekeepers* leave little surprises in our room!

we made it back to the park just in time to see tinkerbell!!


mckinley LOVED the fireworks!!!
jett seemed annoyed....he was trying to sleep.




















at the end of the day...
or the wee hours of the morn since we did leave at 1AM...
we had a great day.
jett and mckinley did fabulous considering we endured heat and the above mentioned 1.5 million people.
but, no matter how great our day was, we will not be going back during the first week of april EVER again!

ta ta for now!